Sunday, July 31, 2011

Zhou Yu Armored (Loongon)



Hi folks :) I'm doing a quick review this round for a not-so-commonly-reviewed kit from Loongon, aka Little White Dragon or 小白龙 ;) and this kit is at the size of a Bandai HG 1/144 kit.


Manufacturer: Loongon, aka Little White Dragon or 小白龙
Scale: 1/144
Origin: China original series
Price: RM19.90


Part 1 - Runner

This kit consists of 4 runners... 1 for the action stand, and 3 for the mecha. Certain parts are pre-colored in Red. One surprise in this kit is the action stand ;)






Part 2 - Legs

The legs are similar to the older HG kit, with OK articulations. It is a bit disappointed that there is no sticker or decals for the legs and the patterns need to be colored manually :p





Part 3 - Body & Torso

Same as the legs, the armor comes only in 1 color; the Reds and Grey are colored manually, except the front skirt armor. The waist could be turned as per a HG.





Part 4 - Arms

The arms are pretty ordinary with below-par articulations. The only plus point here is the various hands provided for posing.




Part 5 - Head

The head is quite a disappointment... the details are not clear, and yet there is no sticker provided for the eyes :(





Part 6 - Weaponry

This is best things from this kit, but you need to color it manually to make it look good :p




Part 7 - Completed Kit

Well, take a look at the completed kit, partially painted :p









Part 8 - Size Comparison

Standing side-by-site with HGFC God Gundam ;)




Quick Review

Plastic quality

Plastics quality is alright ;)



Color

Pretty disappointed, as it only comes with white and yellowish-gold.


Articulations
  • Head/Neck: Normal. Usual ball-joint.
  • Shoulder: Bad... forward and backward is alright, but cannot move sideway.
  • Arm/Elbow: Normal-.
  • Wrist: Normal.
  • Waist: Normal, can turn left and right.
  • Skirt Armour: Normal
  • Hip/Tight: Normal. Ball joint.
  • Knee: Normal.
  • Ankle: Normal-.

Pose-ability

Very bad pose-ability in general.


Looks and Feels

Pretty bad... even a FG looks better... not recommended unless you want to challenge your coloring skill.



Fin ;)

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Saber San, Non-Scale (Kotobukiya)



Hi guys :) Hope you are well ;)

This is not a Gunpla... this is Kotobukiya's Non-Scale Full-Action Plastic Model, Saber San! This is a very cute little thing so I would want to do a quick review on her instead ;)

Manufacturer: Kotobukiya
Scale: None
Origin: Fate/Stay Night
Price: 3000 Yen


Part 1: Runner/Parts

As you can see, there is not much runner and parts, therefore it should be very fast for a straight build :) One could take less than 4 hours to complete this kit ;)

To my delight, some of the parts come pre-painted like the sword and armour, which are pretty nicely done. As for those who would like to re-color the kit, this kit actually comes with a set of water decals identical to the pre-painted parts.

This kit comes with 2 facial expression (close mouth and open mouth), and 3 eyes expression (staring left, center and right). It also comes with a transparent sword resemble the activation of her signature move ;)

Runners




Pre-Painted Parts




Part 2: Legs

The leg articulations are pretty well-done. You would say that the knee could not bend over 90 degrees, but there is no need for such as the skirt is actually to long for such movement :p

The boots are very nice, as the front part of the feet is articulated too ;)



Part 3: The Head

The head is easily the most complicated section of the entire kit ;) There are consists of more than 10 separate parts including the hair, eyes, face, neck, etc. The modelling is very nicely done for the head.




Part 4: The Skirt & Body

The skirt comes in 3 pre-painted parts. 2 of the side pieces are connected to the back of the hip, and the front skirt is connected to the body by a very tiny peg.

Cautions!
The peg connecting the front skirt to the body is very tiny. Be careful not to break it!




Part 5: The Arms

Sorry dude... I've lost the pictures for this section :( You would need to visualise here until I can snap some pictures :p

The arms are very nicely done too. The hand armour fits onto the forearm in a rod-like manner that permits the armour to turn freely (not loosely), which in turn allow a high variety of posing ;)

The shoulder articulations are excellent due to its multiple joint. The elbow also could be bend at a 90 degree.

Cautions!
The peg for the shoulder joint is very tiny and easily broken! Take extra caution when you are fitting in the joint mechanism into the peg... you need to use a bit of force but be careful not to break the tiny peg!


Part 6: Saber San, Posing with Closed Mouth Expression :p

The face looks shinny on my photo due to lighting... it is actually very nice ;) You can do more action pose with action stand tho ;)








Part 7: Saber San, Posing with Open Mouth Expression

Nuff say... enjoy the pictures ;)





Part 8: Size Comparison

Saber San, side-by-side with Bandai SD Wing 0 Custom :)



Quick Review

Plastic quality

The plastic is pretty nice ;)


Colour

The colour separations are very well done! There is no need to do additional colouring unless you are very particular and wanted to make the armour really shinny ;)


Articulations

Head/Neck: Normal.
Shoulder: Fantastic! Very highly pose-able.
Arm: Good.
Elbow: Normal.
Wrist/Hand: Good.
Special note: Individually, the arm doesn't seems to have very good articulation but combining the mechanism employed by Koto for this kit, the arms are very highly pose-able.
Waist: Normal, can turn left and right.
Skirt: The skirt is move-able to certain extend so its a good thing :p
Hip/Tight: Pretty good... just a bit limited by the skirt.
Knee: Normal.
Ankle: Normal+.
Feet: Good.


Pose-ability

Highly pose-able for a non-scale kit ;) I love it!


Looks and Feels

Cute, cute, and CUTE! Highly recommended!


Fin :)